IP: AT&T Heir Apparent Quits Troubled Firm After 9 Months [no

[David Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

AT&T Heir Apparent Quits Troubled Firm After 9 Months


By Paul Farhi Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, July 17, 1997; Page
A01


AT&T Corp.'s No. 2 executive resigned abruptly yesterday, just nine
months after he was brought into the ailing long-distance giant as an
apprentice chief executive. His departure marks another misstep by a
corporate icon that has never found sure footing since its monopoly era
was ended by court order in 1984.


Wall Street was flabbergasted last fall when John R. Walter, a
telephone-book and database executive with no real experience in the
business of telecommunications, was named president with the
understanding he would take the top job in about 18 months. His patron,
chief executive Robert Allen, assured the board and the industry that
Walter was a quick study who would give the company's leadership the new
blood it needed.


But in a telephone press conference, AT&T board member Walter Y. Elisha
said AT&T's eight outside board members yesterday "unanimously" concluded
that Walter lacked the "intellectual leadership" needed to run the
company. "Our action today suggests we erred in bringing him in in the
first place," he said, adding that with technology changing so rapidly,
the board in recent weeks had become "increasingly concerned."








an extract from the FT story is more interesting...


> AT&T refused to comment on the specific shortcomings that had prevented
> Mr Walter getting the top job. However, Mr Elisha said: "We watched John
> in board meetings and listened to him as he talked about the business and
> we became increasingly concerned about whether he could
> provide...intellectual leadership."
>
> Mr Walters' time at the company will have earned him $25.8m in all,
> including a $3.8m severance payment and the money paid to lure him in the
> first place, AT&T said. This was in line with the sums paid to senior
> executives who have been lured by other big US companies, including Mr
> Louis Gerstner, IBM chairman, and Mr George Fisher, chairman of Eastman
> Kodak, said Mr Elisha. AT&T has started an immediate search for a
> replacement.